Genetic determination of sibship and twin zygosity in a case of an alleged double infant homicide.

A 32 year-old woman was hospitalised with severe septic symptoms. The examination of the patient revealed placenta residues in the woman's uterus as cause of the infection. The police was called and investigated her apartment in search of the missing baby. Finally, the bodies of two newborn babies were found in the freezer. According to the mother, the babies were stillborn twins. The autopsy revealed that the smaller, moderately putrefied child was stillborn, while the larger infant showed typical signs of drowning and only slight putrefaction. The placenta was judged by gynaecologists to be that of a single pregnancy. Thus the prosecution suspected that the woman had had two independent pregnancies and ordered an additional genetic analysis. A genetic analysis clearly revealed that the babies were monozygotic twins, supporting the mother's statement of a twin pregnancy.